The Extent of Irrigation.
little less than 13 per cent of the total. Deducting the aggre
gate acreage of desert and wooded lands, there are left about
615,600,000 acres, the greater part of which supports a scanty
herbage which, either green or sun-cured, is readily eaten by
cattle. This may all be grouped under the head of grazing
lands, since at one time or another of the year herds of cattle or
sheep can find sustenance. Most of this latter class of land, com
prising over two-thirds of the area west of the 100th meridian,
has a fertile soil and climate favorable to agriculture in all re
spects save that of moisture. With water, great crops could be
produced, but without it nothing but the scanty native grasses
succeed. The area which has actually been' redeemed by irri
gation is quite small, not to exceed 1 per cent. The eleventh
census of the United States found that in 1889 only 3,631,381
acres* were irrigated, this being but four-tenths of 1 per cent of
the entire area west of the 100th meridian. Besides the area
irrigated a relatively small area was cultivated by " dry " farm
ing, the yield being, however, small.
The further extension of agriculture within the arid region
rests on the complete utilization of the water supply. As
previously stated, the streams have been employed to a large
extent and there now remain only a few rivers from which
water for irrigation is not diverted.t These flow on undisturbed
because of the great expense, and the engineering difficulties
encountered rendering doubtful the financial success of any
undertaking. In the case of many of the smaller streams the
aggregate of the claims to the water exceed by far the ordinary
quantity discharged, and, as a result, most of the claimants must
be satisfied with an amount of water less than that to which
they assert ownership. At the same time a large proportion of
the water of these streams flows to waste either in floods or in
winter, all of which could be used to advantage if it could be
held by storage.t The enormous cost of creating reservoirs for
the waste waters and the small apparent profits have to a large
extent deterred private capital from entering upon such projects.
* Eleventh Census of the United States, 1890, Irrigation in Western
United States by F. H. Newell, p. 3 .
t Water Supply for Irrigation by F. H. Newell, in thirteenth annual
report of the United States Geological Survey.
. Hydrography of the Arid Regions by F. H . Newell, in twelfth an
nual report of the United States Geological Survey, p. 224 et seq.
171